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This is how i used to create all the time backups of my databases with PostgreSQL 9.2.x:

pg_dump -Fc -Z 6 -U postgres mydatabase > 2013-xx-xx_xxxxx.db

However on a machine where PostgreSQL with version 9.2.3 is running I get all the time the error "too many command line arguments" starting with "-Z". If I remove -Z he is complaining about "-U"?
What is wrong?

Okay there is definitely sth. wrong. I removed argument for argument until i just started pg_dump. Then i added argument by argument and it worked. So I opened another command line window and tried the same: First "too many arguments", after calling only "pg_dump" and adding further arguments it worked...

2 Answers
2

I'd venture that it has nothing to with pg_dump version but that it may be an invisible spurious character on the command line that is causing this mess. As a demo, if I type this in cmd.exe, it works as expected at first:

pg_dump -U postgres postgres >out.db

But now if I come back on this command with Arrow-Up, position the caret just before the -U option, add a non-breaking space by hitting Alt+255 on the numeric keypad, and validate this command, it yields the error you mention:

... and in case you're wondering "I didn't type anything like that, what's this got to do with me": You could easily copy and paste such characters, particularly if you're copying from something like MS Word.
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Craig RingerJun 6 '13 at 23:50